4 MALLET : COAL-FIELDS OF THE NAGA HILLS. 



One of the earliest discoveries of coal was tiiat in the Saffrai, and 



so lonsc affo as 1828 a considerable quantity was 

 Mr. C. A. Bruce, 1828. ■ ■, -, ^t 



actually raised by Mr. Bruce, who had been 



sent there for the purpose by Mr. D , Scott, Commissioner of the North- 

 East Frontier. Mr. Bruce, with a party of 100 men, ascended the 

 river in canoes during the rains, and commenced operations on a 

 seam which he describes as being 24 cubits (36 feet) thick, with 

 but one thin parting of shale. 5,000 mans were quarried and a 

 large quantity loaded into the canoes, but the difficulties of the naviga- 

 tion were so great, owing to the swiftness of the current, the rapids and 

 sharp turnings, that four canoes were lost going down stream. The 

 remainder of the coal was brought in safety to the Brahmaputra and a 

 boat-load despatched to Calcutta for trial, where it was pronounced to be 

 equal to English coal and " the best ever found in India.^^* 



Lower down stream than the above-mentioned bed, Mr. Bruce 

 observed no less than eight other outcrops. The coal in one of these 

 was said to be 12 cubits and in another 25 cubits thick (18 feet and 37 

 feet 6 inches, respectively). Some coal was raised from both of these; 

 but being surface stuff that had been injured by weathering, it was found 

 to be inferior to that quarried from the 36-feet seam. 



Mr. Bruce also visited some low hills not far from the river, where 

 iron ore was at that time extracted and smelted by the Assamese, the 

 produce being worked up into dJiaus for exchange with the Nagas for 

 cotton, &c. He observed petroleum springs in more than one locality. 



Coal and clay-ironstone were also found at Tiru Ghat — the Tiru 

 being a stream which joins the Saffrai on the left bank.f 



The existence of coal in the ^ Nambua* (Nambar) , a stream which 



joins the Dhansiri some miles south of Golaghat, 



Mr. Brodie, 1837. ^^^ pointed out in 1837 by Mr. Brodie, who 



* Jour., Asiatic Soc, Bengal, Vol. IX, p. 213 



f " Report of a Committee for the investigation of the coal and mineral resources of 

 India, for May 1845," p. 113. Also Journal, Asiatic Society, Bengal, Vol. VII, p. 951. 

 ( 272 ) 



